**Special Notes! I am considerably more familiar with Minato's version of things. Although I've watched a lot of videos of P3P, I haven't actually played it and so haven't played Minako's version of things - only Minato's as shown by P3:FES. Therefore, although I will draw from extra personality shown in Ryoji's social link with Minako, I will be playing Ryoji as if he were from Minato's side of the story.
** Also, a little headcanon. Since when Ryoji appears, he seems to have no trouble more or less fitting in and making friends with students in his class, I assume he must have some sort of memories that are borrowed, in a sense, from Minato – given to him along just basic humanity. Otherwise, how would he have any sense of how to act or any working knowledge of how to be a student or how to flirt with girls?
Furthermore, there are a lot of details about how he goes about his day-to-day life that we are not privy to. Where does he live while he’s a student? How on earth did he get the appropriate paperwork in? What happened to him during the Dark Hour before he remembered everything? What on earth does he spend December doing? None of these questions are answered in the game, though I have some speculation and head canon on them.
Personality:
In order to fully understand Ryoji Mochizuki at the canon point I pull him from, it is first necessary to consider all the separate parts that comprise him. By understanding them separately, it is then easier to understand how they come to blur and blend together. The four different ‘personalities’ or aspects are as follows: Death/Himself as a pure Shadow, the boy who calls himself Pharos, Ryoji Mochizuki and Nyx Avatar.
Death. This is the form of his for which we have the least information. Since this is how he begins existence, and since really, he’s just pure shadow here – albeit a Shadow of the 13th Major Arcana, for which previously there had been no Shadows – it can be inferred that he likely behaved more or less the same as other shadows. In other words, he is a thing born from primarily human emotions and subject not so much to conscious will as to impulse and instinct. The only real hint we get of his behavior patterns as this, however, is in the beginning of the game, when Minato first calls forth the persona Orpheus, and Death rips its way out of Orpheus’ head to then destroy and presumably absorb the Magician Full Moon Shadow. This possibly indicates a strong – aggressive, even – desire to become whole again. And indeed, this very desire is likely the main way in which this shadow was able to subconsciously prod Minato to return to Iwatodai to begin with.
However, it should be noted that by the time we see this form visibly surface again, when Ryoji transforms into it in a last-ditch effort to convince Minato to kill him for reasons explained in history and elsewhere, whatever personality or impulses that Death might have had have been more or less subsumed by the stronger, fuller personality provided by the part of him which is human.
Pharos. An enigmatic, friendly and … strangely sort of cheerful boy who appears only to Minato during the Dark Hour (save for the final time he appears), Pharos is curious and a bit odd. But he is happy to make a friend, and he is quite willing to share with Minato bits and pieces of whatever he remembers about what is and what is to come. Because he is not yet complete, his memory of who and what he is is not complete, and it isn’t until after the 12th Full Moon Shadow is defeated and merges with him that he is complete and that he is able to leave Minato’s psyche to become wholly his own being again, as Ryoji Mochizuki.
Like with ‘Death’, Pharos is largely subsumed by Ryoji, which is… rather understandable, given that really, Pharos is just an immature form of Ryoji. You could almost look at It like if Ryoji were a normal person, Pharos would just be him as a child. Like any adult compared to how they were as a child, some things carry over in one form or another, and some things disappear – but importantly, the adult has memories from being that child.
Ryoji.
To most, Ryoji presents the face of a charming (though absolutely shameless) flirt, always cheerful and eager to try new things and make new friends. It seems like nothing – not even rejection from a lovely lady! – can get him down, and merrily, he laughs his way through life. With boundless energy, he enjoys life and encourages others to do the same, though his standards for what it means to enjoy life might not be universal. After all, one of his favorite activities is asking out and otherwise seeking to enjoy the company of cute girls! Or even just enjoying their cute looks, as (for example) he is certainly not above plotting with his friend Junpei to accidentally-on-purpose linger in the hot springs a little too long, into the girls only time. And he certainly is not above dragging other friends into such devious plots. (Though he is, perhaps, not the best at such plotting, as his enthusiasm nearly gets the better of him and alerts the girls to the boys’ presence.)
But to be fair, even if he is party to such plots, he’s also pretty honest and straightforward. He encourages Junpei, Minato and Akihiko that they should just come clean and apologize to the girls, and later on he remarks that sharing secrets is fun. Hiding minor things is just not his style. Life is meant to be shared! (… which means he’s probably not the person you should be, say, confiding your crush to. He won’t be able to resist bubbling it to them!)
Of course, life isn’t all about the ladies. Ryoji is also quite appreciative of the sheer beauty of the world. For example, he enjoys the view of the sun on the ocean, and espouses the beauty of Kyoto. Forming memories of beauty and happiness and getting to enjoy new experiences (especially with people he treasures) are important to him. Even if at the time he started being Ryoji Mochizuki he did not yet remember what he is, he still almost certainly had an unconscious sense that time was pressing.
But for all his value of life, his view of death is also pragmatic. All living things die, and it is simply something you must accept, no matter how cold that sounds…
After Aigis confronts him on the Moonlight Bridge and regains his memories, however, the lines of what defines him as Ryoji begin to blur, and it is here that we begin to see also a more vulnerable, sorrowful, lonely and guilty side to Ryoji. He does *not* want to fight. He does *not* want to be The Appriser and become one with Nyx, bringing death to humanity, because he likes humanity and greatly values his own humanity. And even if the time he got to spend was fairly short, he’s nonetheless quite grateful to have made friends and gotten to enjoy it as he has. He values having been able to laugh and cry and everything else that he otherwise never would have been able to do.
But he is also very sorrowful exactly *because* life itself is very precious to him. He does not want to see it end, but since it’s going to inevitably end anyway, he does not wish to see his friends suffer through it. He would rather they take the choice he gives them to end his life so that he can take away their memories of the Dark Hour and the coming Fall, so that they can live out their final days in peace, without the burden of knowing the end.
And he feels very guilty about having to be the cause of all of this – enough so that after multiple apologies, he just disappears for a month until the time has come for SEES to make their choice, presumably because he does not wish to bother them with his presence. And perhaps because he needs time himself to fully come to terms with what he is and what he must do.
By the time of December 31st, he is more collected than he was, no longer crying, though he is much more solemn and quiet than he was before memories returned. Still, there is no going back to quite the same innocent cheer of before, even if in Luceti, he will undoubtedly come to wear this cheer again.
Nyx Avatar.
This is, of course, what he finally becomes, and his personality as Nyx Avatar is best summarized as melancholy, regretful and detached. As he has become one with Nyx, though his humanity has left him with the regret and the sorrow that life must end, he no longer seems to feel the same emotional attachment – probably because Nyx herself is a neutral entity with no attachment one way or the other. Thus, primarily Nyx Avatar speaks in a mostly neutral tone – he is mostly just stating facts, after all.
He is regretful of what he is there to do – all the more so when SEES shows him their determination and will to live. He laments that more of humanity is not like them, for perhaps if it were, there would not be such despair and desire for death that was the source of his being created to summon Nyx to begin with.
And where does that leave him now? Primarily just Ryoji, again – free to be as he chooses but with the weight of the knowledge of who and what he really is. As the barrier around Luceti prevents communication with anything outside, he clearly is no longer quite so much one with Nyx, but he retains a part of Nyx with him, as he is her avatar. This part of him gives him a clearer picture of fate and life and death – and it’s because he was defeated as Nyx Avatar and then was able to see the miracle Minato pulled off (with the power of friendship! … and willpower) that he has gained a more content, hopeful outlook.
But it is worth noting that since he has returned to being Ryoji after having been Nyx Avatar, and because he has all those memories and experiences, now, the lines between the different aspects of him have blurred. He may not have the same detachment that Nyx Avatar does, but he has the knowledge and certainly his outlook has been influenced by having been it, and it is always possible that it may surface again. And then, of course, there is always the potential that the inner part of him that is really just a Shadow may surface during moments of great danger – during a fight, for example.
1 of ?
Megami tensei Wiki Article on Ryoji
Wiki article on Pharos
Wiki on Nyx Avatar, though this is less history and mostly just details of
Wiki on Death
**Special Notes! I am considerably more familiar with Minato's version of things. Although I've watched a lot of videos of P3P, I haven't actually played it and so haven't played Minako's version of things - only Minato's as shown by P3:FES. Therefore, although I will draw from extra personality shown in Ryoji's social link with Minako, I will be playing Ryoji as if he were from Minato's side of the story.
** Also, a little headcanon. Since when Ryoji appears, he seems to have no trouble more or less fitting in and making friends with students in his class, I assume he must have some sort of memories that are borrowed, in a sense, from Minato – given to him along just basic humanity. Otherwise, how would he have any sense of how to act or any working knowledge of how to be a student or how to flirt with girls?
Furthermore, there are a lot of details about how he goes about his day-to-day life that we are not privy to. Where does he live while he’s a student? How on earth did he get the appropriate paperwork in? What happened to him during the Dark Hour before he remembered everything? What on earth does he spend December doing? None of these questions are answered in the game, though I have some speculation and head canon on them.
Personality:
In order to fully understand Ryoji Mochizuki at the canon point I pull him from, it is first necessary to consider all the separate parts that comprise him. By understanding them separately, it is then easier to understand how they come to blur and blend together. The four different ‘personalities’ or aspects are as follows: Death/Himself as a pure Shadow, the boy who calls himself Pharos, Ryoji Mochizuki and Nyx Avatar.
Death. This is the form of his for which we have the least information. Since this is how he begins existence, and since really, he’s just pure shadow here – albeit a Shadow of the 13th Major Arcana, for which previously there had been no Shadows – it can be inferred that he likely behaved more or less the same as other shadows. In other words, he is a thing born from primarily human emotions and subject not so much to conscious will as to impulse and instinct. The only real hint we get of his behavior patterns as this, however, is in the beginning of the game, when Minato first calls forth the persona Orpheus, and Death rips its way out of Orpheus’ head to then destroy and presumably absorb the Magician Full Moon Shadow. This possibly indicates a strong – aggressive, even – desire to become whole again. And indeed, this very desire is likely the main way in which this shadow was able to subconsciously prod Minato to return to Iwatodai to begin with.
However, it should be noted that by the time we see this form visibly surface again, when Ryoji transforms into it in a last-ditch effort to convince Minato to kill him for reasons explained in history and elsewhere, whatever personality or impulses that Death might have had have been more or less subsumed by the stronger, fuller personality provided by the part of him which is human.
Pharos. An enigmatic, friendly and … strangely sort of cheerful boy who appears only to Minato during the Dark Hour (save for the final time he appears), Pharos is curious and a bit odd. But he is happy to make a friend, and he is quite willing to share with Minato bits and pieces of whatever he remembers about what is and what is to come. Because he is not yet complete, his memory of who and what he is is not complete, and it isn’t until after the 12th Full Moon Shadow is defeated and merges with him that he is complete and that he is able to leave Minato’s psyche to become wholly his own being again, as Ryoji Mochizuki.
Like with ‘Death’, Pharos is largely subsumed by Ryoji, which is… rather understandable, given that really, Pharos is just an immature form of Ryoji. You could almost look at It like if Ryoji were a normal person, Pharos would just be him as a child. Like any adult compared to how they were as a child, some things carry over in one form or another, and some things disappear – but importantly, the adult has memories from being that child.
Ryoji.
To most, Ryoji presents the face of a charming (though absolutely shameless) flirt, always cheerful and eager to try new things and make new friends. It seems like nothing – not even rejection from a lovely lady! – can get him down, and merrily, he laughs his way through life. With boundless energy, he enjoys life and encourages others to do the same, though his standards for what it means to enjoy life might not be universal. After all, one of his favorite activities is asking out and otherwise seeking to enjoy the company of cute girls! Or even just enjoying their cute looks, as (for example) he is certainly not above plotting with his friend Junpei to accidentally-on-purpose linger in the hot springs a little too long, into the girls only time. And he certainly is not above dragging other friends into such devious plots. (Though he is, perhaps, not the best at such plotting, as his enthusiasm nearly gets the better of him and alerts the girls to the boys’ presence.)
But to be fair, even if he is party to such plots, he’s also pretty honest and straightforward. He encourages Junpei, Minato and Akihiko that they should just come clean and apologize to the girls, and later on he remarks that sharing secrets is fun. Hiding minor things is just not his style. Life is meant to be shared! (… which means he’s probably not the person you should be, say, confiding your crush to. He won’t be able to resist bubbling it to them!)
Of course, life isn’t all about the ladies. Ryoji is also quite appreciative of the sheer beauty of the world. For example, he enjoys the view of the sun on the ocean, and espouses the beauty of Kyoto. Forming memories of beauty and happiness and getting to enjoy new experiences (especially with people he treasures) are important to him. Even if at the time he started being Ryoji Mochizuki he did not yet remember what he is, he still almost certainly had an unconscious sense that time was pressing.
But for all his value of life, his view of death is also pragmatic. All living things die, and it is simply something you must accept, no matter how cold that sounds…
After Aigis confronts him on the Moonlight Bridge and regains his memories, however, the lines of what defines him as Ryoji begin to blur, and it is here that we begin to see also a more vulnerable, sorrowful, lonely and guilty side to Ryoji. He does *not* want to fight. He does *not* want to be The Appriser and become one with Nyx, bringing death to humanity, because he likes humanity and greatly values his own humanity. And even if the time he got to spend was fairly short, he’s nonetheless quite grateful to have made friends and gotten to enjoy it as he has. He values having been able to laugh and cry and everything else that he otherwise never would have been able to do.
But he is also very sorrowful exactly *because* life itself is very precious to him. He does not want to see it end, but since it’s going to inevitably end anyway, he does not wish to see his friends suffer through it. He would rather they take the choice he gives them to end his life so that he can take away their memories of the Dark Hour and the coming Fall, so that they can live out their final days in peace, without the burden of knowing the end.
And he feels very guilty about having to be the cause of all of this – enough so that after multiple apologies, he just disappears for a month until the time has come for SEES to make their choice, presumably because he does not wish to bother them with his presence. And perhaps because he needs time himself to fully come to terms with what he is and what he must do.
By the time of December 31st, he is more collected than he was, no longer crying, though he is much more solemn and quiet than he was before memories returned. Still, there is no going back to quite the same innocent cheer of before, even if in Luceti, he will undoubtedly come to wear this cheer again.
Nyx Avatar.
This is, of course, what he finally becomes, and his personality as Nyx Avatar is best summarized as melancholy, regretful and detached. As he has become one with Nyx, though his humanity has left him with the regret and the sorrow that life must end, he no longer seems to feel the same emotional attachment – probably because Nyx herself is a neutral entity with no attachment one way or the other. Thus, primarily Nyx Avatar speaks in a mostly neutral tone – he is mostly just stating facts, after all.
He is regretful of what he is there to do – all the more so when SEES shows him their determination and will to live. He laments that more of humanity is not like them, for perhaps if it were, there would not be such despair and desire for death that was the source of his being created to summon Nyx to begin with.
And where does that leave him now?
Primarily just Ryoji, again – free to be as he chooses but with the weight of the knowledge of who and what he really is. As the barrier around Luceti prevents communication with anything outside, he clearly is no longer quite so much one with Nyx, but he retains a part of Nyx with him, as he is her avatar. This part of him gives him a clearer picture of fate and life and death – and it’s because he was defeated as Nyx Avatar and then was able to see the miracle Minato pulled off
(with the power of friendship! … and willpower)that he has gained a more content, hopeful outlook.But it is worth noting that since he has returned to being Ryoji after having been Nyx Avatar, and because he has all those memories and experiences, now, the lines between the different aspects of him have blurred. He may not have the same detachment that Nyx Avatar does, but he has the knowledge and certainly his outlook has been influenced by having been it, and it is always possible that it may surface again. And then, of course, there is always the potential that the inner part of him that is really just a Shadow may surface during moments of great danger – during a fight, for example.